President Obama on Maya Angelou: ‘One of the brightest lights of our time’

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday mourned Maya Angelou, the writer and activist, as “one of the brightest lights of our time.”

The Obamas’ tribute draws on what Angelou, who was found dead Wednesday morning at age 86, wrote about the late South African President Nelson Mandela just after his death last year, that “No sun outlasts its sunset, but will rise again, and bring the dawn.”

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Angelou, the president said in a written statement, was “a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman.”

“Over the course of her remarkable life, Maya was many things — an author, poet, civil rights activist, playwright, actress, director, composer, singer and dancer,” Obama said. “But above all, she was a storyteller — and her greatest stories were true. A childhood of suffering and abuse actually drove her to stop speaking — but the voice she found helped generations of Americans find their rainbow amidst the clouds, and inspired the rest of us to be our best selves. In fact, she inspired my own mother to name my sister Maya.

Obama said that he and the first lady will “always cherish the time” they were able to spend with Angelou. “With a kind word and a strong embrace, she had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children; that we all have something to offer,” the president said. “And while Maya’s day may be done, we take comfort in knowing that her song will continue, ‘flung up to heaven’ — and we celebrate the dawn that Maya Angelou helped bring.”

Former President Bill Clinton issued his own statement, writing that with Angelou’s death, “America has lost a national treasure; and Hillary and I, a beloved friend.”

Angelou read a poem at Clinton’s 1993 inauguration and for that, and the years of friendship that followed, “I will always be grateful,” Clinton said. “The poems and stories she wrote and read to us in her commanding voice were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace.

Second lady Jill Biden also offered her condolences, writing on Twitter: “Saddened to hear of Maya Angelou’s passing. As an English teacher, I know her words live on in us and will inspire generations to come.”